Reunite Once More
by Shiny Sealies
Summary: After the breakup and disbandment, Fox and Krystal have parted ways and gone down different paths. Krystal becomes a lonesome bounty hunter while Fox adapts to a brand new life without her. Alongside Fox comes Asura, who tries to atone for her past actions after killing her significant other. She also met up with an old friend who teaches her life's harsh conditions.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Dark Times

* * *

It has been more than two years since the Saurian crisis and the Aparoid invasion. It has only been a couple of months after the Anglar Blitz where Fox has officially abandoned the team entirely. Fox has gone missing after the disbandment of his team and no one has ever seen him since. Peppy, who was originally a senior member stepped up to become a general and found out the news of Fox. He searched for him high and low but nowhere to be found. He wished he were back to Corneria to assemble the broken pieces once more. Fox was completely broken down after he found out he could no longer be loved. He ran away hoping to fill the void inside his heart only to have it opened endlessly. His time of disappearance was left unknown but Falco managed to stay by his side as close friends.

Slippy was unable to maintain duty ever since Fox disbanded and went to spend time with his fianceé, Amanda, who he found before the invasion began. Slippy found her as an amazing woman and someone to work alongside with for the rest of his life. Falco also was affected by the disbandment and flew from place to place in search of jobs to maintain financial stability. He worked as a solo mercenary and became known for his amazing piloting skills. Due to his secret mission, he has been keeping up with Fox. Krystal, she was known for her betrayal as Cornerians shunned her away for betraying Star Fox for once being a great member because of her telepathy. Then she worked with the former enemy, Star Wolf. Cornerians called her by many insults, things that she could bear no longer and ran away for good. She became a bounty hunter, one with no heart to understand feelings. Her mission was on planet Kew, a planet far away and sitting outside the Lylat System.

All former members do not know of his whereabouts, except for one particular person. They were once affiliated with Star Fox and even well known between the team. They even left behind a note in Fox's home and they knew what could happen. Fox felt devastated after not getting her back to his own presence. Fox was discouraged from ever speaking to her again or even anyone. So he tried to drive that sadness away through drinking, self-inflicting pains and even contemplating suicide. But that one person managed to stop him all three times. That person didn't want to lose Fox because of _her_. He wanted to save him from his spiraling depression. There was a note left behind by Falco in Fox's home. "Peppy, I know you will be checking out this note, but I have been keeping eye on Fox after his leave. Don't worry about me for now, just try your best to fix up things."

It has been a few days since they both left. Peppy was worried about him since he never came to talk and went to check on his home. Maybe he could find actual clues to where he might have gone to. Peppy arrived at Fox's home, where his parents, James and Vixy used to live in when they were alive. He opened up the door and walked inside. No one was inside and the place was a complete mess. The room was completely dark and cold because of the low temperatures. "Fox? Are you in here?" Peppy continued to wander around the house. The mess that was made created a more difficult path to navigate through. Peppy managed to walk through and found that same note. His eyes had widened up in surprise. Peppy knew this wasn't something normal to talk about or even know about. "Falco was previously here and went after Fox. Surely nothing happened to them because Falco is a fighter."

* * *

Aparoid War

Battle of Corneria

Corneria is at war with the Aparoids from their unknown world. I am evacuating the citizens as time passes to allow them safety. I vowed my life to keeping them alive and well to those I can seek. However, my fiancé, Grey Winter, is out there with Star Fox reducing their numbers to none. I need to check on them and see what I can do once I gathered a majority of the citizens. Oh, I almost forgot, my name is Asura Walker and what I said earlier is true. I am engaged to Grey and we are in love with each other. We both promised to protect each other in a time of need, which is now and forever. I prepare to leave the hidden shelter we made to protect the citizens. It is also guarded by a force field made by the Cornerians. Entry and exit are permitted by Cornerian officials such as Star Fox. There was no way an enemy force could penetrate the barrier in any way possible. My current objective was to eliminate any Aparoid spotted and protect the Cornerians. I know for sure that Grey is close to the command center where General Pepper is residing in. He has told us about the current situation and is our tactician in the meantime. I check my blade and blaster one more time before officially heading out.

I saw the bright blue skies after leaving the shelter, I was kind of glad that Aparoids could not detect such a device. My magic could reinforce the shield but my ether was enough to cast one spell and I chose to stay nearby just in case. There were three Aparoids in front of me the moment I had left. They seem to be analyzing the area and probably know the hidden location that I just exited. The analyzer equipped to my right eye is scanning for weak points in their systems. Oh, this was engineered by Slippy himself. He created and programmed it to all of Star Fox for wider communication and other things.

It seems like the strongest place to attack was their heads or an extreme hard slash to their entire bodies. Regardless, I could take them on with my sword and blaster at my side. The three Aparoids looked straight back to be as I was identified as hostile to them. I unsheathed my sword from my back and held my blaster on my left hand. I shot the first Aparoid at its body and temporarily disabled it. I jumped up and stabbed its head into tiny pieces. Momentarily, it shattered and blew up causing the other two Aparoids to enrage. They made their move as I did with myself. These things are strange, first, they come out of nowhere and second they are hostile to living organisms.

The second and third Aparoids attacked me in intervals where my openings were slim and that I could be left vulnerable if I missed the attack. I dodged and blocked and waited patiently until I was given a chance. My blaster shots were blocked by their legs but I noticed something strange about my terrain. The ground underneath them and me was unstable. I hope I had some grenades stored on my holster. Grey told me to keep them there just in case I might need it. After a bit, I grabbed a grenade and armed it immediately. I threw it at the broken ground and broke their balance. The opening they left was enough to break them apart and continue deeper into the city. They blew up and a path was opened for me.

A bit down the street, Grey seems to be holding off many of them pretty well. He just blasted away four of them and is guarding Pepper really well. I wish I could just watch him but I need to help out in other sections. I ran the opposite way and spotted Fox blasting away radar jammers and Aparoid hatchers. He seemed to be doing fine on his own. His teammates were all in the air. First I saw Falco's Arwing, Skyclaw. I glanced at his windshield and he waved down at me. Since we could not communicate, we had to use hand gestures. I waved back at him and he continued to fire away at Aparoids.

Krystal was flying on her Arwing, Cloudrunner and was hovering nearby Fox and watching his every move. Since she had a love interest for him, Krystal made sure nothing was going to happen at all. I spotted and waved to her. She noticed back and sent me a telepathic link.

_Watch on Fox for me, okay? _Krystal flew off in spot of more Aparoids to destroy. I promised her and eliminated a few more around him to alleviate his problem. I just hope he resolves the Aparoid issue soon because they are going to overtake this world at any rate. Jeez, Arwings and blasters pack more a punch than my blade alone. Which is kind of ironic saying that I am partially a goddess in my homeworld. It means I should be strong alone without the need of anything.

There was no way of contacting Slippy because of the jammers being set off by the Aparoids. I think I saw his Arwing for a bit before he went back to repair. I saw some citizens who were trapped in rubble and made my way toward them. They seem to be a parent and two children that are left unaffected by the rubble. I quickly went over to assist them with the other members. It seemed to be their mother trapped and left to die. I kneeled next to the eldest child and asked him what happened. He appears to be at least 14 years and his little sister at least 9 years.

His face showed it all. Afraid of being killed and losing his mother like his little sister. Both were afraid but their mother wanted them to run away to safety. "I'm here," Asura said and promised to them. I started to remove the rubble from the destroyed building. There were too many pieces and at this rate I was going to be vulnerable to the Aparoids. An Aparoid from a far distance spotted the lonesome white dragon and the children at the rubble. It changed its targeting system and focused on killing Asura. It scanned Asura's actions and marked her as hostility to them.

Asura began to panic in fear that she would not make it. "C'mon now." She looked over to the older brother of the family. "Hey, come help me out quickly. If you can remove all this rubble, we might have a chance at survival." Asura knew his strength was enough to remove the majority of the rubble and Asura would finish. He agreed and started to remove the rubble obstructing his trapped mother. Asura turned and faced the Aparoid. "Die damn it." Asura blocked its incoming attacks and pushed it back. More around that Aparoid noticed the hostility coming from Asura and went for her too. She was starting to become overwhelmed after killing the first one. "I won't be able to hold them off anymore, youngling. Please make haste."

One of the Aparoids gotten passed her sight and attacked the children. The younger sister screamed as Asura quickly pulled it back with her dark chains and yanked it back to herself. "Don't worry about me, get your mother out of there." He finally pulled out his mother and Asura destroyed the one Aparoid. "Nice work, let's get you two out of here." Asura carried the unconscious mother back to the shelter. Fox had destroyed the Aparoids obstructing her path as she made way. She thanked Fox for his assistance and made it safely back with the children. Fox waved back and hoped her good luck on the way.

Asura entered the shelter after entering her entry code. She placed the mother of the two children on a medical bed and the doctors began to treat her. "Oh dear, she barely made it alive." Asura held her hand onto the older brother's shoulder. "Hey, good job out there for being brave. What's your name?" she asked.

"I-it's Alan. This is my little sister, Amber." Amber waved shyly and walked away to her mother.

Asura smiled with joy. "Those are some lovely names, and especially since they have the same character as mine. My name is Asura."

Alan was glad to hear her name ring through his ears. "A-are you with Star Fox?"

Asura's face went straight to confusion when he knew right away her affiliation. "Yes, but how did you know?" Alan laughed and told her the news he saw before this incident. She appeared on the news once when she became berserk. Asura blushed with embarrassment and did not want to experience that again. "Well... it was nice meeting you two. I need to help out with other members of Star Fox and citizens." Alan and Amber were happy to be saved by her and smiled with joy. They wished her the best of luck.

She flew out of the shelter and went to find Grey at the command center. "I hope I'm not too late." Upon arrival, Grey was beginning to become overwhelmed with many Aparoids surrounding the command center. He was seen blasting some before getting jumped by many. "My god. I need to get to him as soon as possible. He won't be able to take them all at once." Asura rushed over and slashed through many Aparoids blocking her entry toward him. No matter what it took, she wanted to reach him by any means possible. Even with her secondary powers. "**Get off of him****!**" None of the other Star Fox members were present at the time since Fox did not finish his mission in time. Asura destroyed many of them before finally reaching the fallen Grey. Grey had already been injected with their infection as the right side of his body was altering its appearance. He was losing control of his own body and began to attack Asura. Grey took his knife and held it against her throat. Thrusting the knife downward, Asura struggled to push it back up. His eyes were pink as the infection was spreading throughout his body quicker than sound.

Asura struggled to fight back as Aparoids around her entered the building. _Damn it, I am too late to save both of them. Grey and Pepper. _She was scared to attack Grey as she may risk killing him. Her hands held against the knife and she pushed it back toward his chest. "It didn't have to be this way." She reversed the knife and Grey was the one who was stabbed. Blood gushed out of his chest, bleeding heavily and quickly. Grey fell backwards as Asura got up and held his body straight and looking at the blood that stained her hands. "Please, don't leave me, Grey!" His eyes closed as Grey left a slight smile on his face. His body remained without a soul controlling it. Asura hugged his corpse and was left feeling devastated that she had killed him. "Please, Grey! I can't live anymore without you." A few minutes later, the Aparoids returned to infect Asura. She grabbed her blaster and pointed it to herself. "I rather end my life than stay any longer... this is my ending. Goodbye..."

She shed a tear and sang a song of sadness. "_Without you, I'm just a sad song._" *Bang*

* * *

A/N: Hiya, just doing some rewriting for another story. To be fair, I feel a little down on seeing anyone die from any motive or natural cause but it's something for me to think about. It helps me continue the story forward with more ideas. Also, this is a squeal to my other story, Re: Eternally Fated so please read that first so you have a better understanding of the two characters, Grey and Asura.

The final quote used was from "Sad Song" by Alesso. That line portrays what Asura's passion used to be which was singing but no longer having the will to do so anymore and thus ending it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Lingering Memories

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A loud ringing noise filled into both of Asura's ears. She tightly closed her eyes and warded off the obnoxious noise. The gun that she had fired toward her head and been repositioned and missed completely. Asura remembered something touching her hand before the trigger was pulled. "W-what?" The grey fox had consumed all his energy to prevent Asura from killing herself. He finally took his final breath and stopped. "G-Grey? Grey! Please stay with me!" He wasn't going to make it as the stab wound inflicted on him was deeper than usual. Asura became a murderer in her own mind, but there were even more things she had to deal with. The aparoids were still alive and were about to pounce onto the dragon. She set down Grey and grabbed her sword once again. "I won't let any of you live. Not when I am still standing, you bastards."

Shortly after, team Star Fox eradicated all the jammers and the teleporters so that no more aparoids would continue to spawn on Corneria. Asura, who was extremely exhausted, dropped her broken sword and fell to her knees. Her left eye was covered by her own dark blood. A quick slash from one of the Aparoids took it away from her. She touched her missing eye and knew it was gone forever. It reflected on how she lost something so valuable. A missing eye is like missing the half beauty of a peaceful world. "Grey..." she held his head closer to her chest. "This is truly what murder feels like... I have no right to be acknowledged as an Empress." Asura kept mumbling curses to herself nonstop until she wanted to stop.

Katt managed to find the lonesome dragon out in battle. "Asura?" the pink feline called. "What the hell?" Katt continued to shake her body until she finally gave a response.

Her shaking body language showed for something else, "Dead," those words of malice filled the atmosphere. "He is gone forever, I killed him... Katt. How can I live with myself being a murderer."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but we are in a bad position right now, we have to regroup," Katt replied. Asura chanted a farewell in her language and put down Grey's lifeless body. She ran with Katt back to the mysterious bunker underground. "Fox and the others managed to defeat the swarm that raid Corneria. They are devising a plan to eliminate this problem once and for all.

Asura really wanted that to happen. "How are they gonna do it? Because I am really looking to kill them all again for what they have done," she said angrily. Her rage was beginning to build up. Her aura became darker than usual. Katt was quite concerned and told her to calm down. "You want me to calm down?! I'll calm down when they are all fucking dead!"

She grabbed her arm and got her attention, "Asura!" Katt shouted back and pointed to the citizens inside the bunker. Asura turned her head and noticed all the scared citizens. Some of them just got back from an extremely stressful moment. Some even saw the inevitable for their loved ones. "There are people who also suffered more than just you. How do they compare to you? They lived normal lives just like us and you think that one person is worse than all the lives that were lost? You are out of your mind, Asura. Look at you, you lost an eye and you don't care about your own body?"

Asura backed off and toned her voice down. "I'm..." she sighed. "Forgive me... there is just so much going on and it's just so fast. There was no other way to save him except to end him. I don't know how people can cope with a loss such as this one." Asura loved him a lot and could not keep the mindset of him being gone. "I can't do it anymore, I don't want to see people dying anymore."

Katt hugged Asura, "It'll be okay, you need to stay strong. Grey didn't want you to die. I know he cared for you when he stopped you from killing yourself." Katt held her hands together. "Just help out whoever you can, they need us more than ever. Also, get your eye checked out before it gets infected." Asura agreed and got patched up her left eye socket. She went over to check on other survivors, including those she saved.

There was the mother of the two children, Alan and Amber that Asura had saved. The mother was grateful that her children were still alive. She thanked Asura for her bravery and the safety of her children. "Thank you and I am pleased with your efforts."

Asura gave a slight smile back, "I am here for your kids, and your son, Alan, he is a brave boy. He is a hero and saved both of us from our problems." The mother was proud of her son for what he did. "Please, get some rest, there is more work to be done here for the others."

* * *

Asura opened her eye, "It's that same dream again, it always gets to me." she sighed stressfully. _It remains as a blurred image in my mind. Now that his sister is no longer on the team, the thought of him being nearby is fading away with passing time. _She touched her left eye, feeling nothing but the scar that was previously made. It reminded her of all the losses she suffered. That feeling prevented Asura from sleeping any longer and checked the time next to her. "Of course... it is nowhere near the rising morning. Only 0300 hours, still pretty early. I might as well go see if anything has happened on the ship." Asura left her room, or Krystal's room rather after the group originally disbanded. Krystal was the only member who left the team after relationship issues. Fox had lost interest when Krystal left for good. Even after he apologized to her and such. Fox decided to steer away from all the love trouble to help the crew at the very least. He was still a grateful person, helping his close allies make a living through a functional mean.

After Krystal teamed with Star Wolf and defeated the Anglars, she lived a terrible life on Corneria. The name-calling and shouting how fake she was to Corneria, Krystal was completely shattered by the people she knew. She ran away from Corneria after being branded as a traitor for siding with Star Wolf instead of Corneria's main mercenaries, Star Fox. Falco had remained with Star Fox in hopes to keep the team up and running. He periodically spends time with Katt whenever he has spare time on his hands. Slippy also remained on the team, but he is also married to a lovely toad named Amanda. She helps with the crew from time to time whenever trouble sparks.

Currently, the roster of members left was as followed: Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Slippy Toad, Amanda Toad, Katt Monroe, and Asura Walker. They no longer had Peppy as he promoted to General by Pepper. And Krystal who left the team after being forced off originally by Fox. His regrets had followed, but even then he was okay when Krystal was still alive. The organization still remained as Star Fox but under a different set of terms. They were no longer the greatest of all time back on Corneria since Star Wolf had taken the credit away from them. This made Fox discouraged him but he remained vigilant about his actions. His current behavior still excelled for a leader whose relationship ended poorly. The Great Fox was currently en route to another planet, Papetoon to discuss confidential affairs going on. "Where is he? I might as well find out how long we have left until we arrive." Asura rubbed her eye until the blur disappeared. "I can barely see with a singular eye. I can't believe I got slashed years ago." Down the hallway and into the control room. She opened the door and spotted R.O.B piloting the ship. "R.O.B, where is Fox?"Fox being the original leader still was able to command his crew properly.

"Fox is currently in his quarters, he wishes to not be disturbed. However, there is a message that was sent to you a few hours ago." R.O.B played the message as a hologram of the sender appeared.

"_Asura, it's me, Kuro Equinox, your pupil from the academy. Remember those creatures you fought, the Aparoids? I was told that a team named Star Fox eliminated the queen with a special bomb. You are also associated with Star Fox because you saved your new home once again, Asura. What happened one that day, we were told the discovery of a new planet. I alongside researchers and other members went to investigate. One of the researchers discovered a fragment that looked familiar to something that was lost a couple of years ago. Though, when the researcher got closer to the fragment, it killed him immediately and it erupted poorly. She hid from everyone to gather her strength and now she is stronger than we imagined. We need to find out where the queen is hiding and who has been affected. There is only so much we can do before life ends as well know it._

Kuro's background displayed a certain video. The video displayed what was shown when the researcher was attacked and later infected with a special disease. "_We analyzed the data given back, the victim was inflicted with special blood that changes the user and makes them hostile toward healthier beings. It is highly noticeable in the eyes where the color red is prominent and their veins are colored a dark purple. So far, there is no cure because the sample we took is just as deadly as the queen. I called them Demons because they are extremely powerful and fast with their improved growth. There seems to be no hope for those infected, and unfortunately, I had to kill off my own members in my ranks. I tried to save as many as I could, but the new queen is highly dangerous to defeat. I need your help to defeat this once and for all._

The messages ended there and Fox made it in. "I don't understand, we sent in a bomb and blew up the Aparoid Queen. Even twice after the first one failed to ensure her death was imminent."

"Kuro is never wrong, he has a superior intuition," Asura answered. "I've seen it when he displayed his level of skill at graduation. He is on another level when it comes to situations, he has proven himself many times." Asura looked at ROB. "We need information on the Aparoids again. Pull up any data you have on their weaknesses and strengths. It looks like we have to save the universe again." ROB began to access all data on Aparoids and anything else that was similar.

Fox turned to Asura, "Kuro is your academy friend right? I remember hearing you talk about him sometimes."

Asura nodded, "We both graduated from the same school once we both learned to master our talents." Asura explained Kuro's full ability. "He has the power to mimic another's full talent. Since he has mastered all of his training, he is near perfect when it comes to recreating a talent. He was able to use my power when he learned to control it." Asura mentioned that her sword is now officially broken and she continues to learn the way of many guns. However, she had an exceptional memory when it came to old times. "Kuro has a unique weapon, it was a concept he had after his father. He created dual fans that transformed whenever he mimicked a talent. The fans themselves were able to be used as weapons too."

Fox then remembered why he came out here. "I came to check how long till our destination. Normally, you are still asleep and wake up at a normal time. Why are you up and early, Asura?"

She looked down with a demoralized expression. "During my sleep, I somehow dreamt up a nightmare and it evoked the memory of Grey's death." Asura was left speechless, not wanting to mention it any longer.

"I apologize for reminding you, for recalling an old memory," Fox replied. He hugged her tightly, giving her a feeling of comfort. He let go and spoke again, "I am always here for you whenever you need it, Asura. I can't ever bear witness the death of a loved one in front of me."

Asura left a tiny smile on her face, "Thank you, Fox. I am grateful that you are still here. What made you stay with the team?"

"I have to maintain our team through all these missions. It isn't easy to find a stable financial system for our issues." He went through the lecture of explaining how he has maintained the team. Fox went through the mission by mission earning enough credits for his team to get by. They didn't earn much from Corneria and decided to go out into the Lylat system to earn more. "I remember you asking me if you could do solo missions to help us. That day, I was grateful that you would do that but you already worked too hard for us in the past. I don't want you to push yourself even more now that you are in this state. Though if the problems get worse, I'll consider your proposal and allow you to do so." Fox noticed how much she had aged and become with two years of mental health. She had gotten a lot older but much wiser than previously. "I think that is enough conversations between us. Try and get some sleep while I find out what is going on okay?" Fox was still caring for his teammates even if things went down the wrong path for them. Asura would try to sleep again and went straight back to her room.

Fox and ROB were the only ones left in the room. "ROB, if you can, will you gather up contact information on the recent caller, Kuro Equinox. I must speak with him immediately."

"Roger that," ROB proceeded to perform two tasks. He prioritized contact information for Fox and then Asura's data on Aparoids. "I have a stable connection to Kuro Equinox, would you like to initiate contact?"

"Patch him in, I need to know as much as I can about this situation." Fox waiter briefly for Kuro to respond. Since this was real-time, the information would be obtained right away. The call started to ring.

Not much time had passed, but someone responded. There was an image of the kitsune on-screen looked back at Fox. "Nox? Wait sorry that isn't you, but you happen to look like an old friend. Fox McCloud? The one and only captain on Star Fox, what's up?"

"Kuro, I want to know more about the new queen," he asked.

"The Aparoid Queen? Well, so far we don't know much about her new form: Fragment of the Aparoid Queen." Kuro had a computer full of information he was able to gather from a singular video. "A fragment still survived and found its way to another planet to hide. When discovered, it infected its first new victim and that victim killed and infected those who survived. I couldn't let them live any longer and eradicated those who were infected. There is no cure for its power, except death as it has no control over a lifeless being. If I am correct, the queen consumes its victims in order to grow, and she is growing stronger over time."

Fox wrote all of this information down, "How does one get infected and how severe is it?"

Kuro answered, "Let me send you whatever information I have gathered from the first encounter." The kitsune began to type in various keys of information to the Great Fox's database. "I'll give a quick rundown, the queen has the ability to infect her victims at high speeds. She will launch her special blood that can infect within contact of getting hit by the blood."

Overall, the results were terrible when it came to infectivity. "Despite being a fragment, it has grown so powerful that it became more destructive than before."

"How can we stop the queen from getting out of hand again?" Fox asked.

There was not much information gathered for Kuro to create a descriptive response. "None of our top researchers are even able to identify a weakness or any clue of beating her. We just have to find ways to destroy any of her Aparoids and Demons she has created. Where are you heading to? I might be able to meet you face-to-face and explain in person."

"My home planet, Papetoon, we were told to head there to obtain a new mission, probably has something to do with this uprising situation," Fox said.

"Oh, I am also heading that way, since I came in contact with the queen. I am required to tell everyone about what I saw and this data obtained," he explained. "I am still further studying what arising issues may appear. I know for sure that the new Aparoids have a special core that needs to be destroyed. It's marked in golden yellow or bright red depending on the Aparoid type."

"Is that the only thing about them that has changed?" Fox questioned.

"That's just one thing, but there is a possibility that they have more things. We need to find them in combat and gather more data," Kuro stated.

Suddenly, a siren was heard from Kuro's side of the video call. It flashed emergency colors of red inside his room and another voice was heard. "_Emergency alert, Aparoids have boarded the ship. Evacuation imminent, everyone get to safety and quickly!_"

"I just had to say it... I can't stay here any longer. I sent you all the data I currently have, Fox, give it to everyone on your ship and the commanders." Kuro was in a panicked state of mind. His door was broken down by an Aparoid and Kuro took defensive measures. He opened his bladed fans and slashed them apart. "I have to go, I must save as many people on my ship as possible. There is a chance I won't make it, but tell Asura to stay strong." The connection was lost and the screen began flickering.

"Kuro?!" Fox attempted to get a connection back, but there was nothing responding back to him. He typed rapidly but nothing was working. "Damn it, there wasn't enough time." However, ROB was able to collect the data that was sent to their own databases. Fox was sort of glad about that. He had something to look into and something to give to the commanders on Papetoon. "Ugh, I can't believe this is happening. ROB, I need you to replay the video of the Aparoid Queen."

"Affirmative, replaying video right now," ROB responded.

The video was loaded onto the screen and they waited for something to appear. The screen flickers for only a short moment and clear as day before the incident. One of the researchers had spotted a mysterious chunk of metal on the ground. Its designs were unique to the planet they have discovered. He got closer and inspected it by hand. It seemed to be a normal fragment until it broke open and infected him with a mysterious substance. It must be the special blood that Kuro mentioned. Then the familiar Aparoid Queen appeared and began to ravage those in her path. She killed off half of the troops who were protecting the researchers.

A dark purple liquid that touched the researcher and changed his appearance. He started to turn hostile toward other people and infected even more with the blood his body had created. Kuro was seen jumping in to defend against the attack and protected a healthy researcher. He slashed the infected researcher and killed anyone who harmed the healthy. The Aparoid Queen summoned forth Aparoids through the energy she had stored in her body. Years of energy gathered up inside her were released and she created many Aparoids. Kuro was outnumbered by thousands and his allies were all dying.

There was no choice but for him to fight back and get many of them back safely. He fought his hardest with his bladed fans, even as to transforming his weapons into everything he has learned. First, he changed them into a singular rifle and shot down those approaching his ship and himself. The rifle changed into a shield that blocked and guarded against many Aparoid attacks that closed in on him and a few others. Finally, a staff that could cast a variety of magic spells to destroy all Aparoids currently standing. It just wasn't enough as there were too many at once to take out. Kuro saved less than half of what he originally had to the Aparoids. He quickly fled the battle saving whoever he had on board. The rest were left to fend for themselves or to die to the queen. Kuro was left devastated by the number of lives that were lost due to the queen's attack.

This was the start of something entirely tragic. The loss of his allies marked a true tragedy of a new war. He lost more than what they have taken the first time. "They have gotten stronger than before. The queen knows all our patterns and I can't even eliminate a single one. If anyone gets this, we are on the verge of doom if the queen isn't stopped."

The video recording had ended poorly with all those deaths. Fox was left mentally scarred and worried that it could have been his team if it were them. "I sure hope it hasn't spread that far yet. I can't let anyone else fall here."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The First Mission

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The Great Fox has landed in Papetoon's docking areas. Fox was the first one out and felt happy to be back to his original home. He smelled the fresh air, happy to know he wasn't on a ship for any while longer. It was over in an instant when he realized he wasn't here for just the relaxation. "Shit... I have more to discover." He looked at the time on his wristwatch and it was 0700. It was a bright and early morning to start up a new mission, but it had to be done with the current situation. A notification was pinged to his watch as he read the ping.

_Objective Obtained: Find the General and notify them of the new incoming invasion._

Fox shrugged, "I guess I know what I am doing right now." Fox walked down the morning streets, sighting nothing but the citizens and cars traveling by. He hasn't been home since his parents changed planet locations. _So much has changed in the past years. I can't imagine what happened when the wars and all those invasions struck._ He walked by many people, some did not recognize his insignia or his affiliation.

Someone had tapped his shoulders and he turned toward the source. "Fox, where are you going?" said Asura. "I came as soon as possible when I heard the bridge door open. I couldn't let you go alone, because I felt the queen's presence in my sleep." Asura explained to Fox about what she experienced during her sleep. "The queen has a strange power to tap into minds, especially mental states who are weakened by a dark past. I felt her trying to gain control of me, but I managed to fight back and strengthen my resolve."

It had Fox raising a brow in confusing, "What? That is absurd, there is no such thing that can mind control you."

"Anything goes, Fox, let's just get going, we can't dawdle any longer," she said. Asura pointed down the street, "That building over there looks promising, we should investigate that area. Maybe we will find who we need."

Fox nodded, "Alright, let us not waste any valuable time." Both made haste and ran down the streets, avoiding anyone who got in there way.

Though as they ran down the street, one of the buildings on the right of the street blew up into many pieces. As Fox and Asura were still running, they had to initiate evasive maneuvers. Fox dashed to the side and took cover while Asura jumped upward into the air to cancel all forward momentum. She later held on to a flag pole hanging on the side of a nearby shop. Both members we unphased and the smoke cleared up to see what they were looking at. A group of robbers had completed their heist and stolen a handful of gold inside the bank.

Asura looked to Fox with her communication gear near her mouth, "_Criminals, let's take them, Fox. Let us show them the potential of the new Star Fox. We will see if Slippy's inventions have improved significantly than he had previously._" Fox agreed with her and prepared his tech for combat.

The robbers were armed with heavy firearms and were about to fire against citizens. While most of them had escaped, some of them were caught in the frontlines and were in danger and an asset. One of them pulled the trigger of their gun to kill anyone who got in their way. A volley of bullets left the chamber and barrel of the gun.

Asura jumped in and shielded all the shots with a holographic shield on her left arm. They continued to fire against her, but all the shots were rendered useless. "It worked, now, Fox, do it!" Her face of confidence knew that Fox was able to take them all out without a struggle. Fox left his hidden cover and fired a stunning shot at the robbers. The grenade landed near their feet and it gave them a blinding flash immediately. Asura charged in and knocked them all down with a shield bash. She was impressed with the barrier and the gear she was given from Slippy. "Even when I don't have my magic, I am still quick when it comes to saving people. Technology is advancing every year, and Slippy does it so well."

A special shield that naturally recharges with solar energy and a sword equipped with a special gun. It was a weapon suited for Asura whenever she was too far from someone. The usage helps when she could no longer cast magic. Fox was given a rifle with two different shots: blaster and stunning bombs. A pretty straightforward weapon to shoot with. Both were given transforming uniform whenever they engaged in combat. Something Asura was happy with after fully retiring as the Elementalist. "Slippy did us a favor with his new tech," Fox exclaimed. He was impressed with the new designs and these could potentially help with the new Aparoids. "Let's apprehend the evildoers."

The two members went on over and arrested the robbers for their actions. The people were thankful and the police arrived in time to jail the robbers for what they have done. One of them recognized Fox as Star Fox's leader and the other saw Asura as the Berserk Dragon. "Hey, it's Fox McCloud and Asura! Those two are awesome!" The little kid was really excited to see celebrities with his very two eyes. Fox and Asura went up to the little boy and gave him something special. Fox thanked him and gave him a little blue medal. "One day, you can be heroes like us," Fox spoke.

Asura gave him a warm hug and kneeled down. "Thank you for giving us recognition. We enjoy those who believe in us, young one." She got up and patted his head. Asura turned to Fox and they both nodded at each other. They continued onwards to their destination after reverting their gear and uniform back to their original clothing. "We still make a great team with just the two of us."

"Likewise, you are still the same Asura I remember," Fox complimented.

After about a while of walking, they were able to get into the building that was most notable. Inside, the reception room was quite spacious and they spoke to the reception person. Fox showed the person at the desk his ID. "I am affiliated with Star Fox, there is someone I am supposed to be meeting at the moment. Are they here right now?"

"Mr. McCloud, the hallway to your right and room 130." the receptionist replied.

Fox thanked them and the two quickly made their way down the hallway. Fox opened the door 130 and he was greeted to a familiar face. "It's great to see you again, Fox." the hare gave his hand to prepare for a handshake.

"P-Peppy? When did you arrive?" Fox firmly shook his hand and was grateful to see him.

"I came here a few days ago, they needed a general down here as well." Peppy turned to Asura and the two hugged. "You seem to be doing well yourself, Asura."

"Thank you, Peppy, it's been a while since we last spoke after the blitz," Asura uttered. Despite having that scar on her eye, she still held strongly without certain things in her life.

Peppy then showed him the screen of people fighting on the frontlines against the newly created Aparoids. "I received an S.O.S from someone not too long ago, it was recently and it seems like they are in for some trouble."

They watched as people were attacked by the Aparoids, some of them even turning into demons to infect other healthy beings. One person, in particular, was a kitsune who managed to save himself and anyone else nearby. "The kitsune over there, I am pretty sure you two know him already as Kuro Equinox. He has the most vital intel out of everyone who is a victim of the Queen." Peppy mentioned this only because Kuro has been adapting to their new fighting ability. He was impressed with how he was fighting, using nothing but the bladed fans and his special adaptation powers. "Currently, Kuro and his crew are trying to flee but the Aparoids have gotten wiser and stronger than before. They now pursuit after escaping people and live to kill everything. They are highly deadly and we need to stop them before they cause another chaotic universe."

Fox spoke up, "We will do our best to eliminate all Aparoids, including the queen herself for the second time, Peppy."

Asura nodded at his response. "We need all the help we can get. What is our current objective, Peppy?"

Just like before, if they destroy the queen, all living Aparoids will be destroyed alongside her. Strangely, the Queen was able to survive by a thread and rebuild her strength once again. Peppy said again that maybe through apoptosis they can eradicate her body once again. However, the Queen was also adapting by the hour and could have already been immune to such cellular destruction. "We need to find a different approach, just in case Plan A fails. We don't know any alternatives so we must stick to this plan for now."

Fox and Asura's communication devices were notified of a message. The sender from was Kuro himself and he said the following, "_Fox, Asura. The ship I was on had been overrun by the Aparoids, and I have managed to escape to a nearby planet. The escape pod I was in was damaged, but I had to take a risk to survive. I am heavily injured and I can't find any help. Please come here immediately._"

They both looked at each other and then back to Peppy. Fox spoke first, "A distress call, it seems to be from a planet called Kew. It isn't too far away from Papetoon, but we need to hurry. Kuro isn't going to make it with his wounds."

"Without Kuro, we won't have a winning chance against the queen," Asura stated.

Peppy remembered all the advancements they experienced. "Our engineers have developed teleportation devices. They are placed around the hangar and are used to transport to other locations. We used it to transport supplies from many bases, but we never tried it with people." He suggested they travel to Kew through teleportation to get to Kuro immediately. "But be mindful, that planet is out of our reach and we have no information about it. Start researching it before landing to gather hints about their laws."

Fox contacted Slippy, who was still aboard the Great Fox. "Slippy, look into planet Kew, we need to know about the planet before we travel there."

"I am on it," Slippy replied.

"Let's get moving, Asura, there is no time to waste if Kuro is out on planet Kew." Fox and Asura said their goodbyes to Peppy. Together, the two quickly hurried on back to the Great Fox. As they were going, the people cheered for them as they saved many lives on Papetoon. Their happiness created an incentive to change the world for the better. "It's time to end them again, once and for all."

"They deserve worse for what they have done in the past, and even more punishments for what they have done to me." Asura murmured.

Immediately, they set out for the teleporter that will send them straight to Kew. As they prepared, Slippy told them the news of the planet. "It is very habitable, though it's known for some toxic gas but not a whole lot. I managed to hack into the government databases without being trace. There are special people called bounty hunters, each of them is professional at what they do. Some of considered legendary and all of them have bounties."

Fox read the rest of the information on his own. He saw the list of names for all the high ranked bounty hunters. "These bounty hunters, they are ruthless killers correct?"

"Not joke," Slippy replied. "They will go far to get the head of anyone whose bounty is worthy. I've read about this person in general, Kursed, an expert when it comes to killing. She uses the terrain to her advantage, hiding and using it as a weapon whenever possible. Apparently, she is known to have a secret weapon."

"Kursed?" Fox thought this person was a joke. "You kidding? It can't be that serious." He saw the image of the character, her tattoos and her dark look drove a bit of fear into his body.

Though Asura felt otherwise. "This is Slippy's information he gathered, I would trust Slippy a whole lot now, Fox. If we encounter her, we might have to fight her."

Fox nodded, "Alright, just still to the plan. We find Kuro and get out as soon as possible. Who knows what that planet has in store of us."

The Great Fox III began its travel into space and toward the teleporter. Slippy applied the coordinates for the teleport to send them closer to Kew and land them there immediately. "I would like to say this one thing, protect your identity. We don't want people to come after us, we are just there for one person, Kuro. Hide your faces, change your names, anything to keep you from being spotted too easily." Slippy explained. "These masks should cover the majority of your face." He noticed when he looked at Asura, her missing eye made it a lot easier. "No offense, Asura, but losing that eye makes covering your identity a lot easier."

The dragoness laughed, "Don't worry about it, I am still myself," she smiled. She unequipped her barrier bracelet and placed her sword into another realm.

They checked out the masks they had equipped it to their faces. Fox's mask covered his entire face; mainly the muzzle, and nose. Asura's mask covered the same amount but covered the scar on her left eye. Her long hair even hid the mask's coverings to conceal the upper part of the mask. "I also provided you two with cloaks to further disguise yourselves. We are almost there, you two, we are close to landing," Slippy said.

They equipped their new clothing as the ship was about to land. Fox had received a new objective on his communication device.

Objective updated: Find Kuro Equinox and explore more about planet Kew.

Slippy spoke about the notifications. "Recently, I installed an objective updater on your comms. You should have it too, Asura. It helps a lot when you need it. Don't forget to contact me through that just in case."

The bridge of the Great Fox opened up as they finished landing. Fox got down first and checked the area around them. So far nothing was suspicious about the planet. Just the area they were in was quite empty. Fox signaled for Asura to climb down and the coast was cleared. "Do you have Kuro's signal?"

Asura pointed forward, "His presence is somewhere in that town up ahead." They hurried along onwards to find their missing ally. After a few moments of walking, they were greeted by the mysterious townsfolk. All of them looked at the two were a strange stare. Probably because of the masks they wore. "I am not even sure where he is at this point, there are too many people looking at us to really get anywhere."

"Stay calm and collective, they won't have any problems as long as we continue to move," Fox replied. The masks covered them well, but for the cloaks, it revealed a smaller part of their bodies. For Fox, the cloak has holes on top to reveal his fox-like ears. Asura's horns were sticking out to reveal her dragon nature, but she didn't let it bother her. "If anything, we shouldn't make conflict with anyone here."

"Understood, and my tracker is sensing that Kuro is up ahead," Asura stated. What Asura pointed at was a bar, strangely, she said that Kuro would wound up in there. When they got inside, all they saw were gangsters, citizens, and bounty hunters. "What? I don't understand, this is a bar, not some random location in the middle of nowhere."

They all looked at the two, some of them despised the two but went back to their business. However, the bartender had other news. "Hey, you two are going to get something? If not, get the hell out of here, we don't need more troublemakers in our town." Fox and Asura decided to seat themselves at the bar to grab a drink. Fox asked for beer and Asura asked for a lemon tea. Both of them had their heads down when they sat down. "So you are the manly type, and what about you?" The bartender poured their drinks, he probably had the intuition that Fox went through a hard time.

"Nothing," Asura scoffed. "I just enjoy lemon teas." Asura pulled down the mask and sipped on the tea. "It's decent, but it could be better."

The bartender was a bit irritated, "This is a bar, not a teenager hangout."

"Do I look like a kid to you?" Asura raised her head to reveal her scar on her left eye. "I've been through hell, so I don't want to hear a single word out of your mouth if it isn't thank you for your service or an apology."

Her words struck fear into the bartender and he quickly apologized. "I did not mean to make such a rude remark, forgive me."

He offered to pay for their drinks and he went on his way. Asura and Fox finished drinking and were just about to head out. They were about to leave when someone halted them at the door. "Wait." The voice of a female caught their attention. When they turned to look, they were greeted by another person wearing a disguise. She wore similar clothing to disguise her identity. You could see almost nothing but her blue eyes and her ears. The female could not tell who Fox and Asura were, but she proposed to them something. "I heard that you were looking for someone, I might have an idea where they are."

Asura spoke first, "You know about them? How do you know who we might be looking for?"

She replied, "I have my connections, my secrets." They offered Fox and Asura to follow her to the location she mentioned. "Kuro Equinox, that boy is who you are looking for, correct?" While she was correct, Asura's suspicion on her immediately dropped. She was convinced enough to see him without any warning about who the person really was. Fox was hesitant and he called out her intentions. "I have no intention of driving you the wrong way," she replied.

Fox pulled away Asura and asked, "Why did you trust her almost immediately, I don't know what she could do. We are on another planet, we don't know who is who."

"She knows where Kuro is, even if I don't possess magic anymore. I have a feeling she is telling the truth." Asura answered. She looked back at the mysterious person, "Where are they? My friend, you seem to know a lot about this planet."

They laughed, "You don't want me as an enemy, you fox. As for you, your friend is in the city not too far from here." She led them outside and offered the two a special vehicle, a bike meant to seat two. "I'll be riding in my ship, you two will take this and follow me." Fox and Asura sat on the bike, with Fox being the driver and Asura holding onto him. The other person entered their ship and ascended upward. "I hope you can keep up with me." She flew away but slowed down her speeds

Fox revved up the motorbike and followed the person. "Hold on tight, you are not quite familiar with these things. They tend to go fast due to how little air resistance it has." Asura wrapped her arms around Fox's torso and he drove off. The wind blew through Asura's long silver hair and it flew with the air. Fox looked up and saw the ship they had to follow. "We are to arrive in a city and then we'll find Kuro."

"I sure hold so, I need to see him again," Asura replied.

The environment was quite empty, nothing but ruins and partially destroyed buildings. Unknowingly, something emerged from the ground and struck the bike's front engines and threw both Fox and Asura forward. "AHHH," they both screamed. Fox and Asura landed separately from each other and luckily, they suffered minor injuries. Merely just bruises and scratches. "Are you okay?" Fox asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm alright," Asura responded. "What was it that knocked us off?" Asura looked at the bike's destroyed front engine and such a deep slash dealt to it. "What was that thing? It didn't look proper."

The two carefully approached the mysterious thing that destroyed their vehicle. When they got closer, it uncovered itself from the rubble and revealed to be an Aparoid. It was the latest version of the Aparoids they saw before. Both of them engaged in combat and equipped their gear immediately. "I'll shoot it from afar, keep it away from me, Asura," Fox commanded. She listened and shielded against the attacks it made with its arms. Fox fired some shots into its body, but it barely phased the Aparoid.

Asura pulled the trigger on her sword and a bolt of lightning shot out of it. The shock dealt a medium amount of damage and temporarily stunned it from moving. Asura charged forward and struck its leg. She successfully landed a hit and broke its leg, but it did not break completely. "This isn't going so well, Fox." As Asura turned back to look at Fox, it had already locked its attack on Fox as indicated by shadows. "Fox!" Asura yelled.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Bounty Hunter

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The Aparoid was shot down by the mysterious person on the ship. She stopped its attacks by firing multiple lasers into it. Fox was left unharmed and safe because of their actions. Asura quickly rushed on over to assist Fox who fell on the ground. "Are you alright?"

Fox grabbed her hands, "Y-yeah, I am alright, I am not injured. As they turned around, the Aparoid that was shot down did not fall but took a moderate amount of damage to its body. Part of its body was left damaged such as the legs and the torso. "Let's take this out, they are too dangerous now." Asura opened her shield and faced against the Aparoid. Both of them engaged in battle, Fox fired a few bullets with some of them hitting directly to deal a small amount of damage. Asura bashed its body and stunned it for a short amount of time and followed up with a heavy slash.

Her blade got stuck onto the leg and she could not get it out. "Damn it, I'm unarmed here." Fox took over and started to shoot away at the Aparoid. Asura made sure to protect him with her shield and block some of the attacks. Fox fired stunning shots but they were only 25 percent effective in stunning it. The other bullets were only 50 percent effective in dealing damage to it. "Fox, it doesn't look like we are going to beat it. I need to sword back, I wished I was still the same person from before."

With that being said, she accepted the fact that her sword was now lodged into the leg. Asura leaped forward and reached for the sword. She grabbed the grip of the sword and pulled with all her strength. It was starting to loosen up as Fox stunned it with a few shots. "I am running low, hurry up!" Fox shouted. He reloaded his last magazine and sprayed away at the Aparoid. At the same time, Asura pulled out her sword and left a partially broken leg. She struck it, again and again, to break the leg entirely. After multiple strikes, she broke one leg and her sword at the same time. The blade of the sword broke in half with all that is left is the bottom half still held together.

"Ugh, not again." Asura looked back at the fractured sword. Which reminded her of her past troubled with the Aparoids again. "You damn thing, if I had my powers, you would have wished birth wasn't given to you." In a short time, their analyzers triggered and they received data on the Aparoid they were fighting. There was a glowing red area lit up on their eye scanners. They saw that the Aparoid's head and core were lit up indicating a weak point in their bodies. "Focus, Fox. Those points are very promising to strike."

With that information being hinted, Fox aimed down his sights and locked onto the head's as it was a major spot to strike. He fired in bursts of three, ensuring that every shot counted. The bullets flew out and struck the head dealing high amounts of damage and making the Aparoid play more defensive to cover the weaknesses. While it covered its head, Fox targeted the core's weak spot and dealt even more damage to it. When that happened, it enraged and jumped up high into the air. Fox was about to fire more shots into it but suddenly he ran out of ammo in his magazine. His gun clicked as there was nothing left inside to fire.

The Aparoid was about to land on top of Fox to kill him. Asura quickly intervened and blocked the attack with her barrier, but the attack broke the barrier and penetrated through. The attack struck Asura's left arm heavily damaging her body and causing major wounds to her. She started to bleed heavily and she was in a ton of pain. Her screams filled the air but the attack stopped Fox from being killed. Immediately, the mysterious person intervened again and shot the core with a powerful rifle shot. "One shot, one kill," she said.

"Asura?!" Fox shouted. As she felt, he held onto her and tried to stop the bleeding. "You didn't have to do that." He ripped off apart of his shirt and made a tourniquet on her arm to stop the blood flowing. As the blood-stained the torn shirt, Fox checked up on her vitals. He saw on his analyzer that her heart rate had increased from the shock. "Stay with me, I can't let you die here," Fox called for help but he was stopped by the mysterious person. She had already locked into Fox's head with her scope. Fox heard the rifle being cocked, "What the hell are you doing?"

"None of your business, your head is mine, Fox McCloud." As they were about to pull the trigger, a mysterious blade flew out and destroyed the barrel of the rifle in half. The force of it knocked the gun out of their hands and she looked back. "It's you, I knew I shouldn't have left you alive. You are too precious to these two."

When they turned to the savior, they noticed that he was holding onto his wound near the left side of his stomach. "You are... evil. Don't listen to them, Fox, Asura." Fox recognized the voice from earlier, it was Kuro. He saw the familiar face, eyes, hair, and ears. Even the weapon was the same as Asura described. "She can't be trusted, she is a bounty hunter. All they care about is money and nothing else. I was trying to contact you two, but she got in my way and struck me." Kuro also fell to the ground as he consumed up all his energy trying to stop the wound.

"You think you know so much? I can't let you do anymore." They removed the hood and revealed their face and body. She was a dark blue vixen, "Kursed, I will be the one who executed you all. The precious money from all of your heads will suit me enough for a lifetime." Kursed's short dark blue hair and dark blue eyes made her look more like a wicked person. She had another gun-armed at Kuro's face when she approached him. A smaller gun but still just as effective at killing like any other weapon. "Any last words?"

Kuro remained silent and closed his eyes. He was left defeated as he could not do anything. Fox shouted and pleaded Kursed to stop. She did not hear him and began to pull the trigger. Suddenly, Asura got up and threw her broken sword at Kursed's gun and it disarmed her hand to drop it. Kuro quickly took action and threw a knife out of his fan to pin the gun to the ground. "It's over, I won't let you get in the way of our mission." Kuro had his fan pointed at Kursed. She held her hands up in surrender. Even while he was wounded, Kuro still managed to tie her hands up and got ready to escort her back.

That all was about to start when Fox noticed Asura's arm start to change colors. Her scales turned from white to purple almost instantly. When Kuro looked for himself, he remembered that Asura was struck by the Aparoid and was infected by the new blood. Fox called for Slippy to pick them up and they all got on board the Great Fox. They were in the medical room attempting to assess the wounded. Kuro was already cleaned up and bandages were on his stomach. Asura was currently undergoing treatment because of the infection. It was all bad news since they had no way to cure the infection. "I can't believe this is all happening and so suddenly," Kuro mumbled.

Fox showed up and pat his shoulder. "Hey, don't let it get to you. I know it's really bad but just know you are a really good person. Imagine if you did not show up to save us."

"I guess you are right, I just can't believe that this would happen to Asura," Kuro replied. "What about _her? _How is she doing?"

Fox explained that she was undergoing interrogation by Falco and Slippy. She was locked away and being asked for all the things she did on Kew. "We know she is a famous bounty hunter and she would have killed us all."

The conversation was interrupted when they heard screams from the medical room. Fox and Kuro rushed inside and saw that Asura struggled to break free from the restraints. She was fighting against herself and the infection at the same time. Kuro went up to her and tried to calm her down. The veins on her body looked more noticeable as they were darker than ever. The infection spread throughout her entire body and it was only going downhill from here. Kuro did not know what to do and quickly asked ROB to run tests on the infection using her blood. Kuro did his best to help calm his friend down. "Asura, you have to remain calm. The infection is only going to get worse if you aren't calm."

It didn't work as Asura ignored everything. She growled and then aggressively shouted at Kuro to release her. It sounded like she wanted to kill him, but he didn't let that get to him. "I won't let you get a hold of yourself." Asura suddenly broke free of the restraints and slammed Kuro into the walls. She turned to Fox and grabbed him by his throat. Asura started to choke him to death. That was when Kuro triggered his power and got up to stop her. "Fox, I want you to promise me." Kuro looked as if his life was starting to disintegrate. "I want you to-"

Complete silence filled the air. Nothing happened and everything went back to normal. Asura opened her eyes as she stared into the bright white light in the medical room. She covered the light with her hand as the blinding light hurt her. The only person in there was Fox and he was happy. "Hey, you doing alright?"

Asura blinked a few times to clear up the blurred vision. As she did so, she noticed her vision had improved much more than usual. When she figured it out, she touched her left eye as it by unknown means returned to her. The scar remained, but her missing eye was now back. "What?" Asura looked at her reflection in the mirror. She saw that her missing eye returned only that it was red instead of light grey. "Huh? How did that happen? Did technology improve today or something?" Asura looked at her left arm to see that the wound had disappeared but it left a mark in its presence. It was a pretty dark colored mark of red and purple scarred into her arm. When she looked closer, it had formed a certain shape of a special "X" shape. "I never saw this before in my entire life? Have you seen this before, Fox?"

Fox shook his head since he did not know what it meant. "First time for everything, I guess." His communications buzzed a notification and Fox read the sender from Slippy. "What's up?" Fox asked.

"_Hey, Falco and I are still interrogating the bounty hunter. Kursed, she has been looking after you for a long while and trying to grab the reward that was set on your heads. You and Asura. It's a costly amount of credits but we are glad to still have you two alive.__ Come down into the lower floors if you want to know more, Slippy out._"

The call ended and Fox placed his hand on top of Asura's shoulder. "Stay here and rest up, you are in no condition to be moving."

The dragon nodded and laid back down onto the bed. She closed her eyes and rested as Fox went on down to the lower floor to see Slippy and Falco. He went down the elevator and met up with the other two speaking with the bounty hunter. She was sitting on a chair with her hands cuffed onto the table. "Who are you, and why are you going after us?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, pretty boy. I am a lonesome bounty hunter and a ruthless one too. The money that's on top of your head is a fortune of a lifetime, you and that other girl." Kursed replied. "Some things in this world are worth more in money than life can give. I've come this far and I will not fail. Only the strong will survive in this world, the weak will suffer and eventually die off."

The door behind them suddenly opened up and Fox saw that Asura had gotten up from the medical room. Her hair covered her eyes and Fox wondered why she was here. "You should be resting, why are you here?" There was no response from the dragon but when she looked up, her red eye started to glow with negative energy. "Asura?" With no response still, Asura started to walk closer and the mark on her left arm started to radiate with negative energy. Fox attempted to stop her from approaching, but she only pushed Fox out of the way and into the wall. The force left a small dent in the wall where Fox landed.

She kept on walking forward with both Falco and Slippy to intervene. Asura kicked Falco's stomach and he flew into the back of the room. Slippy tried to persuade her to stop, but her glare at him forced Slippy to stop as he was both shocked and feared at once. All that was left, was Kursed who stared back at her with a grinned face. "It looks like you are the strongest in your team."

There was still silence from the dragon. Not a single word had been spoken out of her mouth. She grabbed Kursed by her throat and suspended her in the air. Kursed started to gasp for air as the chokehold was very firm. "You will die." Asura, without hesitation, dropped her back into her chair and Kursed started to breathe again. A rush of concern rushed into her head. _What the hell was I doing? _Asura was in a panic and had her hands on her head. She screamed after noticing her crewmates had been attacked by her. She rushed on over to Fox to check on his condition. He had minor bruises to his back but overall he was fine. The same applied to Falco with a bruise to the front of his torso. When she checked on Slippy, he was given minor scares and Asura apologized for what she had done uncontrollably.

Though there was no _real _treatment, she hugged him and reassured his mental state. "Forgive me, I don't know what happened to me. I won't let that happen again."

"Don't worry about it," Slippy replied. He remembered seeing the mark glowing and told her about it. "I saw your mark glowing, does that have something to do with it?"

Asura claimed that she does not remember ever getting it except that Aparoid she and Fox fought. There were things she could remember but a lot of things she has forgotten about. "I feel like someone is missing, but I know there isn't anyone." _How did I get this mark and my eye back? I don't remember anything and no one knows either_. "Excuse me, I must be getting back to my room. I don't feel good." Asura left the interrogation room and back to her quarters.

The other three stood pretty well despite being hit far. Fox went on to talk with the bounty hunter. "What is it do you have with us?"

Her eyes suddenly started to tear up. It left Fox a bit concerned about why a bounty hunter would need to cry. "You don't understand, Fox, life out here is a struggle and everything is just going downhill from here. I have been lying to myself and you this entire time." The vixen changed her fur color to a lighter shade of blue and tribal markings started to appear in white. "Remember me? It's me, Krystal, Fox. I can't keep lying to myself forever."

The appearance of Krystal sparked shock into Fox. It brought back memories of a gloomy past that he tried to run from. "I can't believe it, all this time, I thought you were gone from my mind." Fox couldn't comprehend what was happening. He didn't know whether to be happy, angry, or sad. He released her from the cuffs and turned around. "I don't care what you do, just don't bother me." Falco and Slippy were surprised that Krystal was back on their ship. They also were in mixed feelings about her being here. Falco didn't like her for what she had done to Fox and Slippy was unsure to let her slide but that was his nature. "I'm out of here, I am going to check on Asura."

He walked towards Asura's room, and he was disappointed in finding out that Kursed was just Krystal. _Why did she come here? _As he thought to himself, he approached closer to Asura's room. When he got to the door, there was strange energy coming out of the cracks of the door. _What is going on in there? _When the door opened up, he saw that Asura was trying to fight back the strange energy. Her hands were on her head trying to calm herself down. She screamed and shouted from all the pain dealt with her. "Asura!" Fox shouted, but when Asura turned around, she rushed in to attack Fox. However, she stopped herself from proceeding and managed to calm herself down. "What the hell?"

"I can't control it, something else is controlling me." Asura's red-eye and mark were both glowing with unknown energy. _Was it the Aparoid's doing to me and something else inside of me?_ "What is going on with me?!" She started to calm down and everything went back to normal for Asura. She quickly changed into lighter clothing and lied down back onto her bed and thought it could be the stress from battle or that she was tired. "Forgive me, I have no idea what is going on with me today. I never had these things inside of me before but it just feels familiar." That same idea stayed inside of her mind as she went to bed. There was no explanation as to why this was happening to her. "If you can, get Slippy to look into these things for me and upgrade our equipment."

"Alright, and take it easy, you already stressed yourself enough today," Fox replied. As he left, Asura went straight to sleep to rest for the next day. Fox went on back and encountered Krystal in the halls just outside the quartering rooms. "What do you want?"

Krystal's face was gloomy as if she had regrets bottled inside of her. "I'm sorry for what happened before, you probably won't forgive me for what I've done." After nearly killing both Fox and Asura for their bounties, she made a long apology to Fox about it. "There is nothing out there for me, I can't live on killing people. It isn't apart of my morals, I hate it taking the life of a person just to get money to survive. I don't want to do that again, I want to have friends who support me and accept me as a family." She was already damaged by her previous acts of being Corneria's traitor and then taking up a job as a bounty hunter. "That's if you choose to accept me, I will leave if you don't want me anymore."

Fox crossed his arms and turned his head, "I'll think about it, for now, check on Asura's condition. I'm unsure if she will be able to fight properly." Fox walked down the hallway and left Krystal at the quartering rooms entrance.

_I guess I might get kicked off, but at least I got my statement out to Fox. I don't want to get on his bad side anymore, I will go check on Asura. _Krystal walked on over to Asura's room and opened the door. The entire room was messy in under two minutes with scratches and malice. "Huh?" Everything was destroyed and the only person inside was Asura who looked like she was being possessed. "Asura?" Asura was looking around but turned her head in Krystal's direction. She roared loudly and rushed into Krystal. The vixen closed her eyes and covered her face with her arms to block the attack. Krystal wasn't attacked but when she uncovered her eyes, she found herself in another world. "Where am I?"

The only people she saw were herself and Asura in front of her. It was a blank space world, with nothing but white space. The mark on Asura's arm was glowing red-purple and it flowed throughout her body. Krystal was left scared and shocked by where she disappeared to, but it all got worse when she saw Asura's weapons. Her left hand was a dark purple claw and in her right was a blade colored red as blood. "I won't let you out alive."

"What?" Krystal had nothing in her hands to defend herself. A special soul appeared next to her and gave her a special item. It was her special staff from her homeworld, Cerinia. "With this, I shall purge the evil within you."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Star Fox and the Demonic Dragon

* * *

A world white as a blank canvas. There was nothing but empty space for the vixen and the dragon. Krystal stared back into Asura with the staff in her hands. She didn't know where she was and why she was even here in the first place. "Please, stop this atrocity. I don't want to be fighting you." Krystal's words did not reach Asura, because only a silent look was the response. She prepared herself for battle and made an attacking stance. "I won't lose to you."

"Y-you must win... I can't go on like this anymore... Please..." Asura begged and started to tear up for unknown reasons. "I've become... one of them... Die." Asura took her left hand charged forward into Krystal but she backpedaled the attack.

_What happened to her hands? They are emitting this strange energy, her left hand has claws with mysterious dark energy and her right hand is blood red. I thought she wasn't an Elementalist anymore? _Krystal watched her every move, and each attack she threw out. Asura alternates between her left hand and right hand to attack. When Krystal finally realizing, Asura had been infected by the Aparoid and has become a demon. "You've become a demon? When did this happen?" The blade collided with the staff and created a loud ringing sound throughout space. "Answer me!"

"You will die." Asura pulled the sword back and slashed with her claws onto Krystal.

There was not enough time for Krystal to dodge, she was already too close to Asura to move away. Suddenly, time stopped for Krystal and she saw Asura in a standstill position. Krystal noticed and took a few steps back to reposition. She didn't know why time had suddenly stopped but she was glad it did. Carefully, Krystal looked at Asura's body to see that the special x mark was glowing red and purple. Her hands had carried special weapons a claw and a blood-red sword. "Why is she doing this? I never saw her behavior like this in the past. I thought she controlled the darkness inside of her." Krystal recalled an earlier memory where Asura said one of them. _What did she mean by one of them?_

Krystal looked again and carefully examined the mark once again. That same mark matched the energies produced in her claws and sword. "If I can access her memories, I can see what she was talking about." Krystal closed her eyes and tapped into Asura's mind. When she did, she viewed all the memories that she recently experienced. She said someone fighting the new Aparoids and many of them dying from the infection or turning to these freaks. "Are those... Demons?" Krystal freaked out for a moment, there was a demon in front of her trying to kill her.

She took her staff and stabbed the time-frozen Asura with it. When she did, time resumed as normal and Asura fell down and the world collapsed quickly. Krystal opened her eyes again and she was back on the Great Fox inside of Asura's room. The room itself went back to normal with no damages or messes. When she went to check on Asura, she was sound asleep and shortly she opened her eyes. "K-Krystal, is that you?"

Asura got up and hugged her, "I am happy to see you again, I experienced the worst nightmare about you and me."

"What happened in your nightmare?" Krystal knew it was all real. That strange power Asura possessed was uncontrollable and deemed destructive if not controlled. Asura described the dream word for word as a battle between herself and Krystal. Asura said that she _had _demon powers and nearly killed Krystal. She was lucky enough to hold herself back and lost on purpose. "I don't think that was all fake, Asura, you have been infected."

Her eyes opened wide from the shock. "Infected? What do you mean?"

There wasn't any physical evidence to show that Asura was infected, but Krystal explained. "That dream you had, it was all real. I looked into your memories and saw that someone was fighting off those new Aparoids. They gave you and Fox information about them and how dangerous they are." Krystal didn't want to freak her out, but she needed to know the truth. "I saw how they infected those innocent people. They take their blood and inject it into your body and slowly you start to turn." It explained how she received that x mark on her left arm.

They both looked at the special mark again. Asura recalled all the things she could remember in the dream. "So everything in the dream is true about what I can do?" Asura got up from the bed and did the same things from the dream. The mark activated and started to glow red and purple again. Her red eye also started to glow and she grew dark purple claws in both of her hands. "I don't understand, if I am infected by the Aparoids, why am I not under their control?"

"Someone saved you and stopped the infection from being possessive," Krystal explained from the memories. "I can't get their name for some reason."

Asura claimed to not remember who told her about the Aparoids and everything else. "I don't understand, everything you are telling me doesn't add up. I never experienced any of these situations." However, Krystal said that everything she found in the memories was true.

"I am sorry, there isn't anything else I can say. All of those things I've said are true, Asura," Krystal stated.

Asura looked at her hands and accepted who she had become. "I didn't think I would become them and adaptive to their powers. I will use it against them and they will perish for what they've done to my friends." When assessing the other power she remembered, the blood-red energy. A sword full of mysterious red energy appeared in her right hand. When they checked the material, it was not anything they were familiar with. The sword only whenever she wasn't using the claws. "I don't know what any of these things do, but do they assist in fighting Aparoids?"

Even though it was late at night, Asura and Krystal went into the training room to study the new powers. Krystal watched carefully since she knew how to view them properly. Krystal typed into the computer and the program spawned in holographic moving targets. Asura went into the purple form and grew claws from her hands. "Should I call this Demon form?" When she turned back to Krystal, her eye was different than usual.

"I didn't even know your eye grew back and it's purple too," Krystal said. "Did you absorb the dark crystal into your body?"

Asura said she did not as they were still in her room sealed away. "It must be from the dark energy." She proceeded to test the powers and attacked the targets. Her slashes were quick and powerful allowing her to move in various ways and avoid attacks. "This can make me more agile than before since I am carrying less weight. After slashing her targets, she moved onto the next ones with high speeds. It was powerful enough that it broke them into multiple pieces. Asura completed the first test and moved onto her next power. "I need to test the blade now, I'll call it Hunter form. Start it up, Krystal."

Krystal input commands to summon the same holographic targets. "Good luck, Asura," she said. She watched as Asura activated the red energy in her body and her claws disappeared. A sword that appeared to be made from blood was in her right hand. Her left eye started to glow red instead of purple to indicate the other power. The sword's energy was quite more immense than the claws were and she tried it out for herself. A target approached her and she slashed the dummy in half with high precision. _This is quite powerful, can it destroy the Aparoids with ease?_ She continued her experiment but the sword started to radiate and shocked an area around her. The shock destroyed all the holograms and it left Asura dazzled. "What was that?"

"It must have been the sword's power if you can master it. There is a good chance you won't lose." Krystal exclaimed.

The sword suddenly shattered into multiple fragments and disappeared shortly. "What happened?" Asura tried to activate it again, but nothing happened when she tried her hardest. "I never had this happen before, does this power require something else?"

They both thought long and hard about it. Krystal thought it had something to do with the demon form Asura possessed. "There seems to be a correlation between the two forms. Can you use demon form freely?" Asura tapped into the first form with no issues and it seemed to last forever. Krystal took note and said it must have required her to gather up energy for the hunter form. "Then this power is unstoppable if I can utilize it. I will use this to beat the neo-Aparoids."

The doors to the training room opened up and Slippy appeared to greet them. "Good evening, ladies, I noticed that someone had used the training program that I've installed recently. I came to check on the statistics and I noticed you got new things, Asura." Despite having his new equipment being destroyed, he was very glad that they were still alive and was willing to study new things. "I would like to apologize for the equipment, I did not expect it to break in battle. However, your new power seems to be promising and looks much stronger." The toad was very pleased with the new results and volunteered to work around the new power. "I will do whatever it takes to make sure you are in top shape for the upcoming invasion."

She was thankful for his hard work and was willing to let him study her powers even further. "I want to see changes in my power, Slippy, whenever we go out on missions. I need you to see what my power can do."

He would agree to watch her on any mission that comes up to see any changes in her power levels. "I'll do my best, but for now, I will read the statistics you have done for me in training."

* * *

Fox talked to Falco inside the break room. He didn't know what to do about Krystal on the ship and her past actions. "I can't have her on this ship, she is a traitor, Falco. But I can't let her go because she is a valuable ally for this new invasion. We never can catch a break, can we?" He sighed and waited for Falco to respond.

Even if Falco's mind was on the traitorous acts, Krystal is very valuable and can be essential in battle. "We need her, the neo-Aparoids are no joke, Fox. We have to get past all the negative things and move forward if we want to keep our lives." Falco knew these neo-Aparoids were going to be trouble and having more problems wouldn't change a thing. "Get it over with, we have no choice if we want to succeed in this new invasion."

There was no choice but to accept reality. Fox gathered up the courage to tell Krystal that she was a valuable member. Despite her being a bounty hunter, who knows what would happen. "I'll go check on them right now, they have been inside the training room for quite a while." Fox and Falco both went to the training room immediately and when they got inside a lot of things were happening at the same time. They both saw the experiments that were being tested on Asura from Slippy's analysis.

A small dark slash barely missed Falco's head and he freaked out a bit. "What the hell was that?" Falco shouted.

They saw the notes taken by Slippy and he was also designing new equipment for Fox and Asura. "Hiya, Fox, and Falco. We are running some tests to see what Asura and even you could need." Since she no longer needed a shield, he removed that from the equation and made sure her clothes were durable and light. They watched carefully as Asura clawed through the holographic targets and swapped forms to the sword. The sword slashed through the bodies of the holograms and consumed a _soul _from them as energy.

Fox was a bit shocked to see something odd moving towards Asura. "What is that?"

Asura replied, "Whenever something is slain, a soul is left behind in its wake. However, these are just training holograms and the souls are fake. It helps me store energy so that I can use the sword's power. As long as I have energy, I can keep using the sword for as long as I consume souls." It sounded a bit immoral but Asura agreed to only use it against the neo-Aparoids and anyone who wishes to harm the team. "With these powers, we have a chance to stop the neo-Aparoids once again."

Slippy had more things for the team with new guns. "I watched your battle with that neo-Aparoid, Fox. Your gun isn't as effective as I thought it would be so I created an entirely new design to penetrate through the Aparoid's armor." He brought out 3 of the same blasters designed to fire powerful shots to beat the neo-Aparoids. It functioned similarly to Fox's current blaster only that the shots are more powerful than before. "Try it out, you can swap between different firing modes. Automatic or single fire, they do have their differences."

"What is the difference?" Falco asked.

Slippy took the blaster and flipped a small switch near the trigger. "Right here, there is a tiny lever where you can swap between the two. Up is for automatic and down is for single fire. Automatic allows you to fire rapidly by holding the trigger, it is good at short to medium range. Single fire gives you the most accurate shot possible as long as you are not moving too much and has an extremely long range." Both firing types have different sights to use. While using automatic, the sight will be a 2x zoom scope and single fire gives up to 16x zoom. "Keep these in mind and you'll do great out there." He gave one to each other the members: Fox, Falco, and Krystal.

"What about Asura? Doesn't she get one too?" Fox asked.

An answer was given immediately by Slippy, "Asura explicitly said herself she didn't want to hold guns again because it felt awkward to her." Asura looked at Fox and nodded her head. "Try them out in your spare time, if something happens do let me know about it." Slippy completed his tests on Asura and went on to design a new uniform.

There was a time where Fox confronted Krystal about the team. "Krystal, I want to make you an offer. I'll let you stay on the team only if you are willing to fulfill the final objective, eradiating all the Aparoids." He offered a spot on the team and just as Krystal was about to accept, they were alerted of a threat on board. The ship was already in motion, what was the danger they were experiencing?

Regardless, they had to explore the danger that was happening. The four rushed out into the hallway and the lights were flashing red to indicate danger. "I sense another life form on board," Krystal sensed with her telepathy. "Up ahead."

Her telepathy was never wrong, a being whose's aura was dark inside their souls. They were also infected by the neo-Aparoid's special blood. Asura moved everyone aside and became the frontline for them all. "Demon has come aboard, I shall eradicate it and consume its soul for energy." The nearly distorted tone in her voice made it seem like she was in another form. Asura unleashed the red blade and charged into the demon with speed fast as light. Her position changed in the blink of an eye and she appeared at the demon and slain it. Two souls were released from the demon, a soul of positivity and a soul of life. The soul of positivity went into the sword and the soul of life went into Asura's body. "I feel refreshed..." She felt as if her body had restored her stamina and was back to a normal state.

It confused everyone else because she had never done this type of thing before. "What was that?" Fox's had a face of confusion and was concerned for his teammates and his own life.

Asura took a deep breath and exhaled, "That felt better, now, as for what that was. I don't know how to answer this, but I can obtain two souls, soul of positivity and soul of life." She explained vividly that the soul of positivity would add energy to the sword and refresh the sword's durability. The soul of life would allow Asura to heal back up when she has taken some amount of damage. It will still heal even if she has not taken any damage. "For some reason, I am not like those demons under control but a demon who has a free-willed mind."

The ship suddenly started to shake violently, and the team went to investigate the trouble that was happening outside. Falco opened the bridge and everyone was outside to witness the first invasion of the neo-Aparoids. They were surprised to see that the neo-Aparoids had already arrived on planet Kew and now they were invading it. Fox quickly commanded the members to take action carefully as they did not know much about them. "Keep a far distance away from them, don't let them get close to you."

The objective updated on Fox's communication device. _Protect the Great Fox while it begins for evacuation, from Slippy._

"Split up and take cover where ever you can, we need to be able to escape with everyone alive," Fox announced. Falco took the front, Krystal took the western side, Fox stayed near the bridge doors and Asura went to the backside.

Asura made one more statement before they split, "If you spot any demons, notify me immediately because I sense dark malice nearby but I can't see them." She went off to fight the neo-Aparoids and the others faced against their amount. She was seen clawing her way into their bodies and destroying them piece by piece. Those claws were much stronger than the sword Slippy originally created. "Don't worry about me, the neo-Aparoids drop souls for me to consume as well."

The others stood their ground and aimed away from afar to avoid being harmed. The high zoom allowed them to scope their shots from far range. They noticed that the head of the Aparoid was its critical spot to attack as it dealt with high amounts of damage. "Don't be scared and target the head," Fox commanded and he pulled the trigger to release a powerful shot into an Aparoid's head. He destroyed it with ease and now there was one less Aparoid in the area. That wasn't all the same when he noticed the endless number of neo-Aparoids in the area. They kept on coming with no end to their reign. All of them fired carefully into their heads and not missing a single shot because their lives depended on it.

Suddenly, Falco's gun jams, and the bullet was stuck inside the chamber. As an Aparoid leaped forward to attack Falco, Krystal quickly turned into his direction and sniped the Aparoid's head to kill it. "Target eliminated," but Krystal left her guard down as another Aparoid leaped toward her. There wasn't anyone to stop the incoming attack but suddenly it was blocked by a pair of claws. Krystal had closed her eyes and opened them to see Asura negating the attack and consuming the souls. "A-Asura?"

"Concentrate on the battle, don't worry about me," she spoke weakly. There were wounds on her body but that all disappeared when she consumed the soul of life and soul of positivity. She went from demon form to hunter form as she carried a red sword. "We need to protect the Great Fox and make sure we all get out of here alive. If you can't do that, then we'll all fall here and the hope of the universe will be lost to the enemy."

"There is no purpose in saving a world that is lost of all normal life in the universe." - Asura


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Tying up Loose Ends

* * *

The Great Fox was surrounded by a swarm of neo-Aparoids and there were countless numbers of them. There was too many and Slippy was nearly completed with the lift-off for escape. Fox shot down one of the Aparoids that were approaching Asura. It was one less than what she potentially had to deal with since she was under pressure from multiple swarms. The neo-Aparoids came in huge swarms of about 10-15 per wave and Asura was able to wipe out 5-6 of them with ease. However, her stamina was reducing faster as her body was being strained more and more. The souls of life were not giving her much stamina due to the amount of combat she endured. "I'll wipe the floor with you all for the second time." She slashed with her sword and jabbed with her claws into their bodies.

Krystal worked with Falco while he quickly fixed his gun. One of the bullets was lodged inside the chamber but Falco got it out quickly. While undercover, Krystal blasted away against the Aparoids and the same as Fox. Both had high accuracy shots and did not miss it because this mission was dangerous. Suddenly, Fox's gun overheats due to the number of shots he fired. One of the nearby Aparoids jumped toward him but Asura intervened with her sword and pushed it back. "Thanks a bunch, Asura."

"Don't mention it, and get to safety, there are too many." Asura slashed the same Aparoid with one swift strike to kill it. A mysterious liquid spilled out of its body and splattered all over the place. She blocked it for Fox as the blood does not affect those who are already demons. It did not harm her in any way possible, and she was glad. However, some of it went past her and it touched Krystal and left Falco unphased. Krystal looked at her arm which was marked by the blood.

In no hesitation, Asura rushed on over to Krystal and quickly sucked off all the blood on Krystal's arm. "Asura? What are you doing?" she wondered.

She mumbled inaudible words due to her consuming the blood. After a few seconds, she stood up straight and quickly shouted. "I am saving your life," before going back into battle to kill the rest of the incoming neo-Aparoids. Once more, she slashed away all the Aparoids before getting the signal from Slippy to escape. The four members quickly enter the Great Fox and Slippy put the ship into high power. He announced for everyone to hold on as the speeds were exceeding the usual amount.

When they looked out the windows, they saw neo-Aparoids attempting to follow after them. They could not and they remained on Kew where they left behind everyone to fend for themselves. There was nothing they could have done as they were overrun with enemies. When the ship got into orbit, Krystal decided to ask Asura a bit about herself. "What was that just now? You saved me?"

Asura replied, "I made sure the blood didn't infect your healthy blood by draining away all the infected blood that would have coursed through your body. It only works the moment someone gets hit by it." She explained that the blood would seep through the skin and eventually would enter the bloodstream. The infection would start changing the blood inside your body into another form which causes someone to change into a demon. "I made sure someone I knew didn't die to the enemy."

Krystal looked back with a slight shock in her eyes. "_Knew? Is she angry at me from before?_"

"If you think I am mad at from before, I am not mad but disappointed," she replied. As she crossed her arms and walked away. Despite not being feeling negative emotion earlier, she felt them happen now. Her power went back to normal and her stamina returned overtime. She was glad to not be in combat any longer.

_I can't believe that just happened and what I did previously._ Krystal followed Asura to her room to talk.

Falco and Fox both went to find Slippy to talk about the new weapons. He was currently in the cockpit controlling the Great Fox's orbit. "Slippy, we need to talk about our guns. They all had faults during the battle with multiple of our weapons. If Asura hadn't shown up to save us, we would have been killed." Fox showed his weapon being damaged at the barrel due to the temperatures being higher than usual. Falco pointed out the chamber having a jammed mark there. "We almost died today but we were lucky enough to survive to see the next day."

Unfortunately, planet Kew had been overrun with neo-Aparoids. "These guys are no joke, they are stronger than before. We might need our Arwings again if we have to face against stronger level Aparoids."

However, Slippy had something to refute. "It doesn't matter if our weapons and Arwings are stronger. What's the point if we have to face these demons? They are the ones who can summon Aparoids depending on their skill level." He showed them information of what ROB had analyzed. "I don't remember how we got this information, but it just so happens to be written here. Demons are stronger versions of normal beings, meaning that they have enhanced speeds and strengths. Though with strengths come weaknesses." Slippy demonstrated that every demon had their strengths and had certain weaknesses. "They can be defended by special items or by another demon such as Asura. All of them can regenerate their body parts after they have been removed."

It made Slippy feel a bit nauseous but he had to get it out. "Becoming a danger is very easy as you need to be infected by the Aparoid's blood. Which once it comes in contact, it will start the infection sequence immediately. It can, however, be stopped if another demon drains away all the blood."

Fox and Falco remembered this as they saw Asura draining all the bad blood out of Krystal's body. "I remember that it looked weird but Krystal didn't convert into a demon after Asura did that."

Slippy continued, "In such rare cases like these, Asura was supposed to be possessed and kill us all. Once you turn into a demon, you become someone uncontrollable and will want to kill everyone you see." He wasn't sure why Asura hasn't killed them or even had the thought of killing them. "It feels like a faint memory, but something is stopping Asura from going down the wrong end. A miracle to us." The toad continued to type into the database. "I won't be able to find ways for you three to kill these demons without Asura, but I'll keep trying to see what I can do to make sure you all don't die."

* * *

Krystal tried her best to reason with Asura about the past. Though her best wasn't enough to satisfy Asura. "I didn't mean to cause all that negativity for you all and even myself. Everyone called me a traitor back on Corneria and I didn't want to hear it anymore. So I left for good, changed my identity, and became a bounty hunter for the rest of my life." As you could tell, that all ended soon when the neo-Aparoids started to invade the universe again. Krystal did not mind if Asura was still disappointed but at least took her apology. "Please, all of this happened because of me, but I want to atone for my past issues."

When the dragon turned around and looked into Krystal's eyes, she was tearing up from sadness. "I-I am not mad or furious with you because you were a traitor. I am sad because you left with all my memories of Grey." The lone memory of her loved one disappearing before her very eyes was the thing that hit her. "You were the only thing I had left to live for after Grey died. He is your brother who looked up to Fox, became an asset, someone who I could love and be loved back for who I was. When you left for good, I couldn't imagine what my life would have been without you."

She continued to rant about how Krystal only made Asura sad because of how Grey had a connection to her. "Cerinians like yourself have a special power to talk with the dead and once you left. I lost all of my hope for living because I wanted to expiate my sins to Grey and hear from him one last time." She didn't give up because years later, Asura is still alive talking to Krystal. "Fox was the one who reignited my flame in my heart and I continued living for Grey's sake. I don't want to ever forget him for what he has done for me. Dying now would only betray what he would have wished for me."

The blue vixen looked down with a bit of guilt in her eyes and stared into Asura with a sense of faith. "Then I will let you see my brother one more time. It's the best I can do for you since I damaged you for what I did in the past." Krystal held Asura's hands together with her own. Asura was still crying but cried tears of joy when she heard Krystal say those words. "I need you to focus and we can get into the spirit realm with no problem. You'll also be able to talk with anyone else who has died alongside Grey." It made her excited for the spirit realm as she would talk to all those she had lost previously.

Together, the two of them concentrated their minds onto transferring into the spirit realm. Suddenly, they were magically moved into another world that looked like a peaceful town. Krystal was clueless to this area as she never saw it before in her life. "This is all still new to me in the spirit realm, but where are we anyway?"

Asura replied, "Harmony, this place specifically is a town called Eastern Serenity. I grew up here with my sister and best friend, you know before Harmony was destroyed by us. This must be apart of my memories and the others because we lived here once."

They walked down the pathway in front of them and explored the town. There were many houses and different buildings with special features in them. "I lived down the street with my sister, Kira, when we were specially chosen by the Village Master to attend the academy." As they continued to walk down the path, they immediately were greeted to a training ground with straw dummies. "I was trained by the Master of Light, who was at the time the strongest Light Elementalist out there. His name was Master Jin, but he preferred to be called Silver for private reasons." She explained how at the age of 13, she was a prodigy in the Art of Light due to the Lightning power she was born with. "Lightning derives from Light and since I was talented, I was chosen to attend the academy."

Krystal replied with, "What about Kira? Did she possess anything?"

Asura continued, "Kira was born with the darkness inside of her blood, despite that, there were no teachers in the Dark arts and she couldn't learn at the same rate as I did. Though after the academy years, she grew a hatred against me for having all the luck for a master." By unanticipated, a hand was placed on top of her shoulders and she turned around to see the person. Asura saw the face of the silver fox she knew as her master. "Silver?"

"It's good to see you again, my student." Silver replied.

The dragon hugged him tightly and was happy to see him. "Silver, I missed you ever since you sacrificed your life to save us many years ago."

Silver was happy to see Asura once again in the spirit world. "I've missed you too, and I hope you aren't slacking in your training. I also see you brought your friend with you. Krystal is it?" Asura did not let go of Silver for the longest time. "There there, take as long as you need."

Krystal nodded her head, "Yea, that is mean. I got Asura here because she wanted to see someone."

"His name is Grey, who happened to be your younger brother. I saw him earlier down by the Hall of Honor." Silver happened to point it down the road and then to the right. He hoped the two do not lose their way on to the Hall of Honor. "If you need anything, just come back to me."

Asura let go of Silver and bowed to him. "Thank you, Master, I will never forget your debt." Asura and Krystal said their farewells and walked down the road to a crossway. They took the right path and headed towards the Hall of Honor. They met up with another person, who appeared similar to one of their friends. "Y-you are here too, James?"

The fox laughed back, "Of course I am here, I live in peace with everyone else in this realm. Vixy and I are at peace here." Asura also hugged him again. "It's been a while since I last talked to you, Asura. How have you been?"

She explained her perspective. "It has been a nightmare for years but now I am holding my ground again."

"You are getting better by the moment, hopefully you will be stronger. Good luck, Asura." James stated. He pointed down the path, "I saw someone down the road before I got here and saw you. I think it was Kira and Eliza if that's what you call her."

Asura smiled, "Her real name is Eliza but I call her Elise sometimes. It was good seeing you again, do tell Vixy I said hi."

This made James smile and he would do her the favor. "For you, Krystal, don't let your past get to you. I'm sure that Fox will forgive you and I believe in both of you."

"Thank you, I will keep that in mind," Krystal said. Though, she wasn't sure if being together with Fox would help. They continued down the path as trees and flowers were planted beautifully.

* * *

Slippy was currently designing the brand new weapons and Fox entered the room. It was pretty late at night, about 0200 hours on the ship. "Slip, you should get some sleep. You've been at this project for an extremely long time." When Slippy turned his head, his eyes were red and he had bags underneath them. "Do this later, you work too hard on these things. Take it easy and go to bed, I know it is important but it can be done some other time."

He listened and headed back to his room to sleep for the night. Fox then checked out the newly made weapons, they had the same design only they were improved based on the mistakes that were listed. Everything about it was relatively the same but the ammo it fired was much stronger than usual. "He was always the best mechanic on our crew, he studied well at the academy."

A notification rang on his watch and he read the information that read the following. _There has been an intrusion on the ship near the storage area, investigate the mysterious person. _

It was strange when he got the notification because only Slippy does that but he is asleep. Fox checked on Slippy's room and saw that Slippy was already fast asleep due to his vitals being in resting numbers. _That doesn't clear up anything, who is it? _Fox made his way to the armory to grab his blaster and immediately went straight to the storage room. In a quick time, he reached the elevator and descended to the lowest floor possible which is was the storage room. As the doors opened up he noticed something in the dark move across the room at high speeds.

When Fox got closer to the hidden location, there was a small fear inside of his body. He was anxious about what this thing would start to do if it caught him. Slowly but surely he made his way closer to the strange thing. He made sure to aim down his blaster before approaching the unknown creature. It suddenly jumped onto him and he quickly jumped back to avoid the attack. "What the hell?"

* * *

"Welcome back, Asura, I haven't seen you since you saved the universe by yourself against Eliza," Kira spoke. "So you said you are a demon or something? I never heard of that in my entire life, even as a Dark Elementalist." Kira was very confused when she heard about these demons since she was never really in reality at the time. She opened up her book and started to flip through the pages at rapid speeds. "This is the first time I've ever heard of this. Didn't *inaudible noise* tell you about that?"

Asura and Krystal looked back at Kira very strangely. Asura questioned the strange silent vocal made from her sister. "Why did you not mention a name?"

Kira looked back with a serious look on her face, "What are you talking about? I said *inaudible noise*, he was the one who told you about that." Regardless, Kira continued reading the pages as she explained what was going on. "Never in my entire life did I undergo changes in these demons or anything. Though I did become possessed by the everlasting darkness' full power that isn't the same as being a demon. Eliza might know something since she had gone through these changes before."

They continued and walked down the path again to another set of houses. Asura pointed out the other village. "Harmony's towns are quite close together but it's still good living qualities. Eliza lives down here, if I am correct, she should still be in her house or near the Hall of Honor. I also saw Grey down at the Hall of Honor, you are looking for him right?"

The snow-white dragon nodded, "Yes, I need to see him again before I go once more."

Kira smiled and hugged her sister one last time. "Good luck, you will save the universe again, but this time, you have friends who will support you along the way. Farewell, dear, sister."

Asura would reply, "Until we meet again, farewell, Kira." Krystal and Asura continued down the path to the Hall of Honor to find who they were looking for. Both Eliza and Grey for the final time. "Do you miss your little brother? I just wanted to know, because he was the reason I am connected to you."

Krystal had a gloomy expression on her face, "It's been a while since I last saw him. Also, I don't know what he will think of me for betraying Fox and the others during the Blitz." Whatever it took, she had to go through with it because her friend had to experience something of negative emotion. "Anything to help you, I will do."

Both reached the entrance of the hall and they saw two giant statues in front of them. "Harmony has something called the Hall of Honor, its purpose was to signify those who have shown great honor for their actions. We use these as praying grounds for those who have fallen but protected us from ultimate danger. Despite Silver being _dead_ his status of himself is in this hall, the only reason is that this world isn't reality but spiritual." They walked inside the hall and saw many platforms of different statues to showcase many of the fallen. "It's been a while since I was last here, around twelve years ago I was here at the age of 15 to pay respect to Silver. His sacrifice was a sorrowful one because he achieved 100 percent of his power for only a short while. That caused his downfall but he defeated the World Eater from consuming our home."

"That must have been awful to know that he died for a good cause," Krystal replied. At this point, she didn't know what to think of the losses that happened.

Asura smiled, "Silver showed me that true potential can be attained by believing in one's heart. Even if the power of Light is hard to learn, it's strongest is also the most dangerous to perfect because it will destroy your body."

Krystal was surprised that Asura said that because she had mastered this power in the past. "How are you still here?"

"I did not have to open the door that would give me 100 percent because Silver gave me the rest of it," Asura explained. Her being weaker than her master was normal and getting that new power allowed her to learn safely without dying. "He was willing to give it up because I was his only pupil and the one who was inspired to learn. Silver said all the other people who learned Light all cared about being the strongest at fighting when they didn't take heart into consideration. I was one of two people who learned Light through the heart and not strength."

She clasped her hands and got onto her knees into a prayer stance. "Things like this, I would come every year for ten years straight to show my respects for him. He taught me everything he had for me to know and it was great. Sometimes, I wished life didn't leave us like that but it was for the best."

Krystal also got onto her knees and prayed alongside Asura. "Then I will pray too, I wish to atone for all the bad things I have done before to Fox, myself, the team, and even Corneria."

"You mind if I pray with you two as well? said another voice behind him.

Krystal's ears perked up as she turned around to the familiar voice. "I can't believe you are here," she was shocked and hugged the person. "Grey, little brother, I am sorry for what I did to everyone." As she started to tear up from guilt and sadness.

Grey smiled, "At the very least, you admitted to doing all the regretful things. Mother and father would be proud that you are atoning and I am happy too. Even if I died, I will still watch over my sister until the very end because you are family and no one leaves family behind." Both foxes turned back to Asura who was still on the ground kneeling to the statue of Silver. "Hey, it's been a while."

Then they heard sobbing from her as she jumped up and tackled Grey onto the floor. "Grey! I missed you so much, it is very hard to go on without you in my life. I don't know what to do without you." She cried into his chest and hugged him tightly. "I am sorry for letting you down a couple of years ago during the first Aparoid war. Every night, I can still hear your voice screaming for help as you died from my actions. I still cannot process it to this day that I drove a knife inside of you."

Grey was very surprised to hear all of this happening at once, but then he slowly started to remember everything. "It's not your fault. It was mine because I decided to go out alone in battle without allies and I was infected and lost control of myself. It was a terrible experience, but you dealing the killing blow on me was the only option you had left."

"Are you not angry at me for killing you?" Asura's sobbing started to slow down a bit.

Grey sat himself up and Asura as well. He brushed her hair and started to soothe her down, "I am not mad, but rather grateful that you have done that. I'd rather have someone familiar kill me than those without a soul kill me. You've done me a favor and I appreciate it. I'll tell you about it at your home because Eliza is waiting for you and she wanted to see you again."


End file.
